Knicks seize opportunity to heal, rest up for three days before facing Heat in Game 3
Knicks forward Julius Randle (30) and guard Jalen Brunson (11) in the second quarter of Game 2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Right now, it might feel like the Knicks' plans to head south to Miami this weekend are no different from most New Yorkers — seeking a little sun and enjoying a bit of relaxation with a small dose of partying.
The Knicks could certainly use the rest that the three days off before Game 3 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Miami Heat, a time to exhale after a hard-fought Game 2 win to even the series at 1-1. And that rest could allow the banged-up ankles of Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson to heal after playing through pain Tuesday night.
But partying? That just doesn’t sound like Tom Thibodeau’s style on the best of days — and with the Knicks' coach well aware that the time off will give Miami’s Jimmy Butler time to get his own sprained right ankle healed. When Tuesday’s game was over, which Butler sat out after suffering the injury in the fourth quarter of Game 1, Thibodeau was asked if he would prepare as if Butler would play Saturday.
“You already know the answer to that,” Thibodeau said, pausing for effect. “No, we will. I think that’s sort of the nature of the beast right now, for everyone. You go in, and guys are nicked up at this time of the year. And so there’s the possibility that guys could be in or out. OK, there’s a possibility he could be out, but who will be in? What would the plan be if those guys are available? If Jimmy is available, then we’ll have a plan for him. You also know in tonight’s case, when he was out, it would be a different type of game, and it was.”
Game 2 may have proved the teams don’t even need their stars to make it a war. The Heat were without Butler and put out a lineup that might make you shake your head in a summer league game, yet those players proved not only to be worthy of minutes, but worthy of this sort of postseason battle. With the time off, not only will Butler, Randle and Brunson have time to rehabilitate their ankles, but the aging veterans of the Heat, Kevin Love and Kyle Lowry, who excelled in Game 1 and dropped on the next game, will also benefit.
Randle shrugged at the notion of whether the time off would help him heal his ankle. “It doesn’t even really matter, to be honest," he said. "Do whatever I got to do to make myself available to play. Just take it a day at a time.”
Having three of those days will certainly benefit Randle and the others. To get back on the floor with one day off was something more for Randle.
“It was hell,” he said after the game. “It was every day, around the clock, trying to get my body right. I don’t have a problem doing the work. Mentally, it’s a grind. But like I said, I just want to make myself available for the team and whatever I can give the team, try to get us a win and that’s what matters. So just happy I was able to be out there, contribute, help us get a win.”
The Knicks are aware they will see a different Heat team in Game 3 Saturday, not just because Butler will likely be back, but because these two teams adjust and shift to counter what they have seen in the last game.
“I’ll say this, the Heat have a known culture of how they play and who they are and what they’re about and what their philosophies are and all that stuff,” Brunson said. “While they’re down a big-time player like that they play the same mentality, same physicality, same attitude. Adding him back just makes them tougher. It’s going to be a challenge. They don’t miss a beat, no matter who’s on the floor. That’s just who they are and we’ve got to respect that and we do. We’ve just got to go forward knowing that they’re going to be a tough team to beat.”
Some may see this as a battle of attrition, a last-man-standing sort of series lacking the superstars that some series have or the beauty of others. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
“If you’re a basketball aficionado, you have to love this series. You have great competition. Guys going after it,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Leaving nothing to chance. Both teams probably could use an extra day just to gear up for the gladiator battle that’s about to ensue on Saturday.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
